There was a time when a lot of Seattle stores shielded themselves behind plywood. Now the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill is one of the few to go board up windows. That's because, in the past, May Day has gotten chaotic, but has this day of clashes and protests finally turned a corner?

"It was kind of huge. It was kind of a big deal back then I feel like every year it kind of tapers off a little bit," said Justin Kercher, owner of Do the Extraordinary handmade clothing store in downtown Seattle.

Franz Junga, the chef at Il Fornaio, planned on business as usual this May Day and credits the city's response for restoring peace.

"The police have contained it a little bit more and made sure it's safer for people," Junga said.

But, no one really knows when to let their guard down.

"As soon as you think it's going to be gone, I feel like maybe that's when it's going to ramp back up again so you just kind of never know," Kercher said.

The Downtown Seattle Association is working to keep its member businesses safe in case protests do get out of hand.

"I think what you've seen from 2012 on is an increased level of coordination between law enforcement and businesses in downtown," said James Sido with the DSA. "I think from that point forward things have increasingly gotten better."

The DSA recommends clearing sidewalks of trash cans, sandwich boards, even tables and chairs, so they can't be thrown against glass storefronts. They said the decision on whether to board-up the windows is best made by individual property owners.